Sin: A Prequel to 'A Future Imperfect'
by Naitch03
Summary: Cindy Burke was your average teenage girl, living her life with her single father- until one day her father disappeared. 4 years later while living on the streets, Sin was saved by Laurel Lance- who would save her in more ways than one. This is the journey of Sin, from street rat to honorary member of the Queen and Lance families.


**Disclaimer:** Arrow is owned by The CW, Berlanti Productions, and Warner Bros. Television. The characters of the Green Arrow and the Justice League is owned by DC Comics. I own nothing; I'm just playing in their universe.

 **Sin: A Prequel to 'A Future Imperfect'**

* * *

Four months before Oliver was to come home, something happened that made Laurel consider the existence of fate.

Laurel had worked late at CNRI, and it was after 10 by the time she was done. She locked up and headed for her car, ready to go home, have dinner and go to bed. But when she went to start her car, all she heard was a series of clicks.

"Oh, son of a…" she muttered. She tired the ignition again, and again got clicks. Laurel sighed. She had had the BMW since college, but recently the car had been acting up more and more and Tommy had been bugging her to get a new car. He had even offered to buy her one (she had shut him down on that really fast), but she hated the thought of parting from a car that had lasted for so long.

"Tommy is never gonna let me live this down…" she muttered. Sighing, she got back out and locked the car up, the. Grabbing her keys, wallet and asp from her purse, she threw the purse into the trunk and locked that as well. That done, she turned and started the walk back home. It really wasn't THAT inconvenient of a walk- only about ten blocks. Tommy hated it, of course, and wished she would move somewhere safer. She told him that all of those times her apartment had been attacked in the memories hadn't actually happened, so he didn't need to worry.

He countered with the fact that they hadn't happened YET.

Still, even if her apartment was attacked, she wasn't the weak woman she had been in those memories anymore. 4 months of intense training under Ted Grant and his son had turned her slightly lean and out of shape body into a toned fighting machine. She idly wondered on occasion what would happen if she and Sara were ever to spar- who would win? _Probably me._ She thought to herself. _If only because I'd surprise the HELL out of her!_

Laurel was five blocks from her apartment when she heard a scuffle up ahead. "Get off of me! No…" Cautiously, she approached the mouth of an alley and peered around the corner- and what she saw made her blood boil. 6 men, probably no older than 25 each, had surrounded a girl. They had tossed her into some trash, and as five stood around jeering the last was holding her down, trying to rip her clothes off.

In the movies, this would be where she yelled at them to stop before confronting them. But as Ted had drilled into her head over the last four months, that's just plain stupid. All you do by doing that, he had told her, is make yourself a target, and if you get taken out the person you're trying to help is in no better position than they were before. Scoping out the alley, she spied several metal trash cans with lids, and a plan quickly formed in her mind. She quickly withdrew her Asp, then taking a deep breath, strode quickly into the alley.

As she hoped, the men's attentions were fixated on the girl, and then didn't even notice her approaching. She grabbed the lid off of one of the cans and snarled "Hey!" One of the guys turned to face her- and got the lid in his face, breaking his nose and dropping him to the ground. Not wasting any movement, she brought the lid back around, catching the second guy in the throat. As he staggered back, gasping for breath, Laurel snapped her elbow in the third guy's eye. He screamed and fell back against the wall, blinded by the pain.

By this time the other two made to move at her, and Laurel whipped the asp around, telescoping it out to its full length and catching the fourth man on the temple, dropping him where he stood. The fifth man took a swing, which she blocked with the lid, then brought the ASP down on his arm, then whipped it back against his knee, before finally swinging it across his jaw, breaking it and sending him down to the ground.

"Look out!" the girl called, but not in time as the third guy came roaring at her. He hit her once in the jaw, then in the gut, stunning her momentarily. Forcing herself to move, Laurel blocked his follow up kick with the lid, before jamming the lid's edge into his crotch. An uppercut with the lid sent the man flying back into the trash, where he lay unconscious.

"NO!" the girl cried. Laurel turned to see the sixth man, with a switchblade in his hand, slicing towards her neck-

But the girl was there, pushing her out of the way. She cried out as the blade sliced into her side and fell back to the ground, but the distraction was enough for Laurel to charge forward. Dropping her weapons, she hit the thug with a devastating combo of punches that she followed up with a flying armbar that quickly broke the man's arm. She then moved to his leg and locked in a leg bar, which promptly broke his leg and left him screaming in pain. Satisfied that he wouldn't be coming after them, she got back up and moved over to the girl. "Come on." She said, holding out a hand. The girl grasped it and allowed herself to be pulled up, then out of the alley. Laurel led her about two blocks down before she finally stopped. Laurel winced, mentally cataloguing her injuries. _NOW Tommy is going to be pissed._ She thought to herself. She turned to the girl, and froze.

She had seen the girl before- in the memories of a life that now never would be. It was the girl her sister had promised to look after, if she ever made it home- a girl Sara would come to consider to be a little sister herself. Shaking it off, she gave the girl a once over. "Are you okay?"

The girl winced. "I've had worse…"

"Let me see." Laurel demanded.

"What, are you a doctor or something?"

Laurel smirked. "Lawyer, actually. But I have basic medical training. Now let me see." The girl leaned back against a storefront and pulled her jacket open. Laurel looked at the cut- it was long, but not too deep. "I don't think it need stitches, but it needs to be cleaned and bandaged. Look," she looked the girl in the eyes, "My apartment is about three blocks down, and I got a fully stocked first aid kit. Let me get that taken care of for you."

"Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"Because I just kicked a lot of ass, and I would hate for that to be nothing because that got infected and you died."

The girl looked Laurel over. "Lawyer, eh?"

"My name is Laurel Lance." She said with a smile. "What's yours?"

"Sin."

* * *

They made it to Laurel's apartment building in short order. Laurel led Sin up to her third floor apartment and let her in. "Have a seat on the couch." She directed. Take off your jacket and shirt, I'll be right back with the kit."

"You know; I don't usually do this on the first date." Sin quipped. She took off her jacket and threw it onto the couch before gingerly sitting down. She winced as she pulled her now-ruined shirt off.

Laurel walked into her bedroom and plugged her charging cord into her phone, then turned to her dresser. She opened the bottom drawer and pulled out an old t-shirt, then rummaged around for a second before pulling out a pair of sweatpants. She tossed them onto the bed, then went into her bathroom to get the first aid kit. She hadn't been exaggerating to Sin- since both herself and Tommy now actively trained, a first aid kit had become a must in the house.

Coming out of the bathroom, she checked her phone and saw that Tommy had called several times. Picking up the landline, she called him back.

'Hey, is everything alright?" he asked as soon as he picked up. 'I've been trying to call, but all I got was voicemail…'

"Yeah, that was my fault." Laurel said apologetically. "My battery was dead. Hey, have you picked up dinner yet?"

'No, why?'

"Get some Tai food. Enough for three. We have a guest."

'Is it Thea?' Tommy asked.

"No, but it's a long story, and one you'll probably be pissed over, so bring the food. Got to go!" she said quickly before he could ask WHY he would be pissed off. She then grabbed the first aid kit and clothes and headed back out into the living room.

Laurel came back into the room then, a first aid kit in one hand, and an old shirt in the other. She knelt down in front of Sin and placed the kit on the couch, opening it and pulling out the antiseptic spray.

"This is going to sting a bit." Laurel warned.

"That's what he said." Sin joked, then winced as the spray hit the cut. "Shit!"

"Told ya." Laurel gently wiped the antiseptic with a soft cloth, wiping off the dirt and grime before applying another layer. Next she got out the butterfly bandages and began applying them.

"They teach you to do this in law school?" Sin asked.

"No, I learned this at Ted Grant's gym. And from my dad, who's a cop." She replied. Finishing up, she gently wiped away the excess antiseptic, then stood back up. "Okay, so if you'd like to get cleaned up, you can grab a shower in the hall bathroom. I've got some clean clothes that you can borrow so I can throw your stuff in the wash to get that fresh garbage smell out. And if you'd like, my boyfriend called to let me know he'll be home in about 20 minutes, and I know he bought more Thai food than we can eat by ourselves. You're more than welcome to join us."

Sin eyed the lawyer wearily. "And what do I have to do for you and your boyfriend?" She asked suspiciously.

Laurel chuckled. "Look, Sin... I'm not trying to take advantage of you. And I honestly want nothing from you. All I'm trying to do is help." She shrugged. "I guess I got a 'saving people' thing."

"I don't need saving." Sin protested.

"Says the girl who I saved from 6 thugs." Laurel replied.

"Yeah... okay, that I needed saving from." Sin admitted.

"Look, I really don't want anything." Laurel said earnestly. "All I'm doing is offering you a shower, a hot meal, and a couch to crash on if you want. Which I would like because the last thing I want to do is send you back into the Glades on your own this late at night."

Sin sighed and considered for a minute. She looked back down the hallway at the bathroom, then back at Laurel. She nodded her head down the hall. "Shower's down there?"

Laurel nodded and smiled. "Towels and washcloths are under the sink; soap is already in the shower. Take as long as you want. Just leave the rest of your clothes outside the door, and I'll thrown them in the wash."

"That's a novel idea." Sin said ruefully. She took the offered clothes from Laurel and stood, then headed down the hallway. She entered the bathroom and closed the door, then quickly found and engaged the lock. Laurel hadn't given her any reason NOT to trust her (and had saved her life), but she found it better to be safe than sorry. In short order she found herself a clean towel and washcloth, then turned the shower on before stripping off her clothes, then quickly undid the lock, opened the door slightly, and deposited the clothes on the floor outside before closing and locking the door again. Checking the water temperature and finding it hot enough, Sin climbed into the shower and let the hot water pound down onto her skin, washing away the filth and misery of the last few days.

* * *

Laurel put all the supplies back into the first aid kit and closed it back up, then headed into the kitchen to get plates and silverware down for dinner. She heard the water turn on in the shower, then smiled to herself when the door to the bathroom was unlocked, opened slightly, and a pile of clothes were set onto the floor before the door was quickly closed and locked again. 'Not a very trusting person.' Laurel thought to herself. 'but then again, why would she be?'

"Laurel?" She turned to see Tommy entering the apartment, a large bag filled with takeout boxes from Chang's in his hands.

"Hey babe." Laurel said with a smile, taking the bag from him and giving him a kiss. "How was work?"

"Do you really think that distracting me is going to work?" He asked wryly.

Laurel shrugged. "Worth a shot."

"So... who's in the shower, and does that have anything to do with the bruise on your cheek?" He asked, gently fingering the bruise.

"Okay, well first off- you were right and I was wrong." She began.

Tommy looked at her suspiciously. "About..."

"My car." She said. "It died tonight."

"I told you-"

"So I decided to walk home-"

"You WHAT?!" Tommy exclaimed.

"And in the process came upon a girl who had gotten jumped by a couple of thugs. So I helped her out, brought her back her to patch her up-"

Tommy shook his head. "Oh, Laurel..."

"And now she's taking a shower, and she'll be joining us for dinner. And hopefully sleeping on the couch. Unless you make an unnecessary fuss, in which case YOU will sleep on the couch."

"Baby, look." He took her hands in his own. "I love you. And I love that you love to help people. But you can't just go picking girls up off the street and let her into your home! What if she's crazy, or violent?"

"I can handle myself just fine, as I proved tonight." Laurel said pointedly. She glanced back at the bathroom, and saw that the door was still closed. Listening for a moment she heard the water still running. "And it just so happens that I DO know this girl, in a way." she continued in a whisper. "Since we saw my sister promise her dying father that she'd look out for her if she made it home."

Tommy stared at her in shock for a moment. "You're kidding." He said finally.

Laurel shook her head. "Nope, I'm not. Sin's in the shower right now, and if she'll let me I plan on looking out for her, since Sara obviously can't."

Tommy sighed. "Are you sure about this?"

Laurel looked at him and shrugged. "As sure as I can be."

After an unusually long shower, Sin climbed out of the tub and thoroughly dried herself off. Inspecting the bandages and finding them to be still fine, she looked herself over in the mirror and winced slightly at the bruise rapidly forming on her cheek. 'Well, it could have been worse.' She thought. She pulled on the clothes that Laurel had loaned her, then took a steadying breath and unlocked the bathroom door.

"Well, that settles it." She heard a man saying, presumably to Laurel. "You're getting rid of that car."

"You know; I was going to do just that. But since you demanded it of me, I'm tempted to keep it just to piss you off." Sin had to bite her tongue to hold back the laugh.

"Ha-ha." The man said dryly. At that moment, Laurel looked over and saw her in the hallway. "Hey. Come and grab a plate."

Sin shook her head. "I don't want to intrude—"

"You're not. Tommy got more than enough for five, let alone three." She said, nodding towards the guy.

"Hi, I'm Tommy." He said by way of introduction.

"Sin." She relied automatically.

Tommy smirked. "No last name?"

"Nah. Just one word, like Madonna." She replied cheekily. Tommy laughed and handed her a plate, and she started heaping food onto it. _Hell, as long as it's free…_

"So, tomorrow I'll take you up to my dad's house; you can pick out a car—"

"I'm not taking one of your father's cars!" Laurel protested.

"Why not? He's not using all of them."

Laurel turned to Sin. "Let me ask you a question. And let me stress that this is in no way trying to impune your character or call you or everyone in the Glades as a criminal, okay?"

"Oh-kay" Sin said hesitantly.

"If I were to drive, say, a brand new Jaguar and park it outside of CNRI, how long would it stay there?"

Sin blinked in surprise, then shrugged. "If you're lucky you'll make it into the building before someone boosted it."

Laurel looked back at Tommy, who then shrugged as well. "It's insured."

Laurel sighed. "I will get a rental car, and this weekend I will go look for a nice, dependable, AFFORDABLE car. One that doesn't stand out like a sore thumb." She thought for a moment. "Maybe a minivan."

"I'd agree with her." Sin advised. "I've known her for about an hour, and I already know that she won't take no for an answer." Tommy sighed as Laurel laughed.

"You have NO idea…" he groused.

* * *

In the end, Sin herself was reminded that Laurel wouldn't take no for an answer and ended up spending the night on the couch. After a surprisingly good night's sleep, considering she was in an unfamiliar place, Sin was woken up at 6 am to the smell of coffee. Groaning slightly in pain, Sin forced herself to sit up, she blinked her eyes blearily and looked around, and spotted her clothes folded on the table in front of the couch.

"Good morning." Laurel called to her from the kitchen table, where she sat looking over some legal documents. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah." Sin admitted, standing up. She started to stretch, then winced at the pain in her side.

"I wouldn't do that for a while, at least until that heals some." Laurel advised.

"Yeah, seems like a good idea." Sin admitted.

"Want some coffee?"

"Sure." She said.

"Mugs are in the cabinet, top shelf." Laurel said. Sin padded into the kitchen and got a mug from the cabinet, then poured herself a cup. She blew on it to cool it down a little before taking a sip, then moaned in pleasure.

"Holy crap, this is good!" she exclaimed, taking another sip. "It's like sex in my mouth."

That was the sentence Tommy arrived to, which caused him to stop short, Sin to turn red and Laurel to laugh out loud.

"I'm not even going to touch that one." Tommy said after a moment before pouring himself a cup.

"Probably a good idea." Laurel said, still snickering.

"Still, glad you enjoy the coffee." Tommy said, taking a sip of his own.

Choosing to move past her gaff, she looked at him curiously. "What kind is this? I'd love to hit up the local Starbucks for some of this."

"They don't carry it. I get it shipped in from Indonesia every month. It's called Kopu Luwak."

"Shipped in?" Sin looked down at her cup. "How much does this stuff cost?" she asked, then took another sip.

"About $50 a cup." He said casually.

Sin looked up at him in shock, then forced herself to swallow. "I would have done a spit take, but I can't afford it."

"It's the one thing around here that I let him buy." Laurel admitted. Tommy quickly finished his cup, then kissed Laurel. "I got to go get ready for work. I'll drive you to—"

"The car rental place." Laurel said firmly.

Tommy sighed. "Fine, go ahead and rent an Aerostar or something." Laurel rolled her eyes as Tommy sauntered back into their room.

"You're lucky." Sin said, finishing her coffee. "He really cares about you."

"He really does." Laurel admitted. She watched as Sin rinsed out her cup and put it into the dishwasher.

"Anyways, I should get dressed and get going…"

"Sin," Laurel said, bringing the girl up short. "I wanted to talk to you about something first."

Sin sighed. _'Here it comes…'_ she thought to herself.

Laurel seemed to sense that and smiled. "I told you I have a saving people thing." She teased, then sobered. "Look, if you want you can walk out that door and go back to your life and I'll never bother you again. You can always come to me if you need help, but I won't try and force you to do anything you don't want to do." She began. "But if you would like to do more than hang out on the corner or the occasional odd job, CNRI has started offering paid internships, and we like hiring from the Glades. I could get you an interview with my boss, if you'd like."

Sin sighed. "Look, Laurel. I'm grateful- for everything. I really am." She said. "But I ain't a lawyer. I'm a high school drop-out who lives on the streets. Not exactly the kind of person people are looking to hire."

"You don't need to be a lawyer, Sin. Interns do mostly clerical work. Helping with research, answering phones, pulling files. It's boring, I won't deny. But you'd be earning a paycheck that could help you get you're a place in a better neighborhood. Look, you don't need to say yes or no now." Laurel said. "Just think about it. And if you want to try, just come see me at CNRI, okay?"

Sin nodded reluctantly. "Okay." She said, though she had no intention of following up. "I'm going to go get dressed."

"Alright. Just leave those clothes on the floor. I'll have Tommy pick them up later." She added with a grin.

* * *

To the surprise of no one, Sin didn't follow up on the job offer that first week after being saved. Laurel, being sensible, had rented an older model Volvo while she shopped for a new car (much to Tommy's chagrin) and had taken to driving around at night looking for the girl, but never finding her. So it was a surprise to her a week later when Thea greeted her at the front doors of CNRI.

"Look at the reflection in the door." She whispered to the lawyer. Laurel did so, and gasped lightly when she saw Sin lurking near an alley across from CNRI. "The chick's familiar, and she's been looking for your car every day this week so far."

Laurel led her into the offices. "She's familiar because you've seen her before, during our trip? When we saw those old home movies?"

Thea rolled her eyes at the lame cover, then gasped herself. "That's Sin! But why is she following you?"

"Because a week ago I helped her out, and said I could get her an interview for a paid internship."

"Still can't believe I could be getting paid for this." Thea grumbled.

"YOU can't, because you're doing it for school credit." Laurel pointed out. "Anyways, I haven't heard from her since, but I was hoping…"

"That's why that position's been held open." Thea realized.

"Yes, but she is as stubborn as my sister, so I doubt she'll come in before next Friday. I hope I can keep it open…" Laurels aid worriedly.

Thea shook her head. "Don't sweat it. A- my families are paying for those internships," she pointed out. Both Merlyn Global and Queen Consolidated had made generous donations towards CNRI, along with setting up the fund that paid for those internships. "and B- she'll be in by the end of the week."

"She's prideful." Laurel pointed out.

"Bet you twenty bucks she's in by Friday." Thea said confidently.

Laurel looked at her skeptically. "I told her I wouldn't try and force her—"

"I won't go near her." Thea promised.

Laurel smirked at the younger girl. "Fine." She said, shaking her hand. "But I know stubborn women, so this is the easiest twenty bucks I've ever made."

* * *

Turns out, she was in by Thursday.

Thea was on the phone with a client when she spotted Sin hesitantly making her way into the office. Thea finished her call and watched the street girl surreptitiously as she seemed to hesitate for a moment, but before she could turn and walk back out Thea spoke up.

"You know," she called out, getting Sin's attention, "If you actually come in, I get twenty bucks."

Sin spun around and looked at Thea in confusion. "What?"

"I saw you scoping out Laurel." Thea explained. "When I told her, she told me she offered to get you an interview, but she wasn't sure you'd take her up on it. I bet her twenty bucks you'd be in by Friday."

Sin crossed her arms and scowled at the girl. "Then maybe I should walk my ass on out of here."

Thea shrugged. "Or you could stay and I'll split it with you." She winked conspiratorially, and despite herself Sin chuckled. "I'm Thea Queen, by the way. Welcome to CNRI. It stands for something, but I can't remember what."

This time Sin did laugh. "Wait, you said Thea Queen?" when Thea nodded, she looked at her skeptically. "What the hell are you doing working a desk here? You on probation or something?"

"Almost. I need volunteer hours for school credit." Thea replied.

"See, that's why I dropped out of school." Sin quipped.

Thea chuckled. "You'd make a terrible role model."

"Yeah, but I look good." Sin said with a saucy smile. "So, split it?"

Thea chuckled and nodded in agreement. "Yo, Laurel!" Thea hollered over her shoulder. "You got a visitor!"

Laurel looked up from her file, shook her head, then picked up her phone and dialed.

At Thea's desk, the phone rang. She answered with a smile and a wink to Sin. "CNRI, we help the hopeless."

' _Cute, Thea. You know why we have phones?'_

"Um, so we can order Chinese food?"

' _Yes, and also so you can call our desks when a client shows up instead of yelling like a maniac.'_

"A certain girl is standing at my desk, wondering if that interview is still available. What should I tell her?"

At her desk, Laurel smiled. "Tell her I'll go see if the boss has a few minutes."

Thea nodded. "Oh, and bring me two tens, will you? I promised to split it with Sin." She hung up, but still managed to hear Laurel's outraged gasp across the office.

* * *

Sin was surprised how much she enjoyed working for CNRI. Sure, the work was tedious at times, but she found herself learning more working with Thea, Laurel, and the others there than she ever learned in high school. Laurel especially took time out of her schedule to work with Sin and help her with any problems that came up.

Most surprisingly for her, though, was that she found a fast friend in Thea. She had been prepared to hate her- their introduction aside, Thea was still one of 'Those People' from the big side of town, with the big house and the long limousines. She had expected a rich girl like her to look down at the poor orphan who spent more time scrounging food from the backs of fast food joints than she ever spent eating inside them. But an incident in the middle of her second week at CNRI had proved her wrong and sealed their friendship. Laurel had invited Sin to go get some food from the local food cart with her and Thea, but she had declined- not because she wasn't hungry (she was), but because she had no money. So she watched them leave, then went back to her paperwork, taking small sips of her water to try and ease the gnawing hunger in her stomach.

But five minutes later she was startled when a bag of food was dropped in front of her. Sin blinked and looked up at Thea, who had dropped into the seat across from her. "What's this?" she asked.

"I don't suppose you'd buy he was having a two for one special, would you?" Thea asked wryly as she pulled her hotdog from the bag.

Sin scowled. "I don't need charity." She said defensively.

"Fine, then you can pay me back on Friday." Thea glibly replied. "But a hungry person does sloppy work, and your stomach grumbles were giving me a headache." She winked at the other girl. "So eat up." With that, she went back to eating her lunch.

Sin pulled out the hot dog and, after a second's hesitation, started to eat. "I'll pay you back on Friday." She mumbled.

"That's cool." Thea assured her.

"Thanks." Sin added.

Thea smiled back. "You're welcome."

* * *

Sin's first paycheck brought with it a surprising amount of satisfaction. Not just for the fact that she now had money, but for the fact that she had put in honest work and gotten paid for it. It was a hell of a lot better than petty larceny or fencing stolen goods. The first thing she had done was open a savings account at Starling National Bank. The second thing was to buy some essentials, including some new shirts that were more work appropriate.

The third thing she did was the following Monday, as she walked past the main receptionist desk where Thea was taking her turn, she dropped a five onto the desk with a smirk as she walked past. Thea shook her head with a smile, but pocketed the money all the same.

* * *

After deciding that her and Thea would get along, Sin began observing Thea while they worked. She noticed that every couple of days that the girl would move stiffly; once or twice she noticed that she would favor one side of her body or the other. She chose not to say anything at first because she didn't really know her, later on she didn't say anything because she figured Thea would talk about it if she felt like it. But three weeks after starting, she was alarmed when Thea came in noticeably limping with bruises that were barely concealed by makeup. She noted that Laurel looked at Thea with a narrowed gaze, but didn't say anything. But Sin had seen enough concealed bruises in her time on the streets to become too concerned to stay silent.

"You okay?" Sin asked as Thea sat down, dropping a thick pile of folders that she needed to sort and annotate.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Thea lied.

"Bullshit." Sin said, startling Thea. "Look, just tell me who did it, okay? I promise I won't go to the cops, but I have some friends I can introduce him to—"

"Whoa, wait, what?" Thea asked in confusion. "Sin, what the heck are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the limp." Sin hissed quietly. "I'm talking about the bruises that the makeup isn't covering. I'm talking about all the times you look like you've taken a beating and I didn't say anything because I didn't want to butt in—"

Thea snorted in amusement, and Sin looked at her indignantly. "Look, Sin," she started delicately. "I appreciate the concern; I really do. But the reason I look like I've taken a beating is because I've taken a beating."

Sin blinked. "Uhh... this isn't some freaky S&M shit, is it?"

Thea snorted in amusement. "Not even close." She assured her friend. "Look, a girl like me, a girl who comes from money, is at risk all of the time. There's always some nut job out there looking to score an easy payday by kidnapping and ransoming me. It's why I have a bodyguard." She gestured towards the front door, where Rob Scott stood. He was a surprisingly good bodyguard when his principal wasn't always trying to ditch him. "And my situation is more… unique… than most." She added. "So I decided to be more proactive in my own defense. Tommy's dad is like a kung-fu master, so I've been training with the both of them most every morning."

"And that's why you look like you went 12 rounds with Mayweather?"

Thea shrugged, then winced. "Today I was a little more… enthusiastic… than normal. I didn't realize how much until I went to take a shower." She reached over and grasped Sin's hand. "Thank you, though. For worrying. It's nice to know that you care."

"Yeah, well I don't have a lot of friends." Sin replied, abashed. "So I like the ones I do have to stick around for a while."

Thea smirked. "And apparently the ones you do have beat people up for you."

"Now and then." Sin said with a satisfied smile. She glanced at Thea. "What do you mean 'unique'?" She asked curiously.

Thea sighed. "Let me tell you about the lives of the rich and shameless..."

* * *

In hindsight, it was a good thing that they had agreed to work on a Saturday.

Laurel was ramping up her investigation of Adam Hunt, knowing she'd be taking him to court in a few months. (In actuality, she wanted enough evidence collected so that when The Hood took him for $40 Million, she could take him for the rest.) So Thea and Sin had agreed to come in and help her and Johanna do some data mining on Saturday.

At least, that was the plan.

But it was noon, and Sin still hadn't shown up, and at this point Laurel became concerned. "I'm sure she's fine." Johanna said. "She just got paid; she probably had a long night and is sleeping it off. She'll be here in an hour, just you watch."

By two o'clock though, she still hadn't showed. And now even Johanna was worried.

"This isn't like her." Laurel said. "At least she would call one of us."

"Maybe she's sick?" Thea wondered.

"She'd still call." Laurel said.

"So why don't we call her instead?" Johanna suggested, then quickly pulled up her employment file. Thea dialed the number and tapped her foot impatiently as it rang.

'Saint Margaret's Shelter.' A woman's voice said when the call was picked up. Thea was taken aback for a moment. 'Hello?'

"Uh, hi." Thea said uncertainly. "I'm not sure if I have the right number, but this is Thea Queen, and I'm calling from City Necessary Resource Initiative. I'm looking for Cindy Burke?"

'You mean Sin?' the woman said.

"Uh, yeah." Thea replied. "She was supposed to come in today to help with a project, but she hasn't shown up. She put this number down as her contact number…"

'I'm sorry, but Sin hasn't stayed here for over a week.' The woman replied. 'You might try Saint Agatha's Shelter, on Pine and Mire. I know she stays there sometimes."

"She doesn't have an apartment of her own?" Thea asked in surprise.

'Not that I'm aware of. I'm sorry I can't' be any more help.' The lady said apologetically.

"No, that's okay. Thank you." Thea hung up. "It was a shelter." She said to Laurel's inquisitive look. "I thought she had a place?"

"She put an address on file." Johanna said. She quickly opened up Google Maps and put in the address. "Let's see where…." She pulled up the street view, then groaned. "Of course, why am I not surprised?" at their blank looks, Johanna filled them in. "It's one of James Holder's slums. This one was actually condemned about a year ago; everyone was forced to move out."

"Damnit!" Laurel cursed. "If I'd known, I would have let her stay at my place."

"Which would have become really awkward when you and Tommy did the deed." Thea said, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "Alright, I'm officially worried. I'll call Saint Agatha's, you two look for other shelters in The Glades."

"Is she using?" Johanna asked. At Thea's indignant look, she pressed on. "We should consider the possibility that she spent her paycheck on some bad shit; maybe she checked into a clinic; maybe she was admitted to the hospital."

"I don't think she's using, but we should check the hospital anyways." Laurel said.

* * *

It didn't take long after that. Within a half an hour Laurel and Thea were on their way to Glades Memorial while Johanna remained behind to cover for them. The pair rushed into Glades Memorial and headed straight for the information desk. "Excuse me," Laurel said, getting the receptionists attention. "What room is Cindy Burke in?"

"Are you friends or family?" she asked.

"Family." Laurel replied firmly. The receptionist typed the name into the computer. "Let's see… Cindy Burke, room 407. Fourth floor."

"Thank you." Thea said. The two headed to the elevators, and a few minutes later they found themselves standing outside of Sin's room looking at the girl through the window in the door.

She didn't look good. Her left arm was in a cast, as was her right leg below the knee. The knee itself was braced to keep it still, and she had a litany of cuts and bruises all over every exposed piece of skin they could see.

"Oh my god." Laurel said quietly, her hand coming up to her mouth. Thea looked around and spotted a doctor. "Excuse me." She called out, waving him down. "Hi, I'm Thea Queen; I'm a friend of Cindy Burke, in room 407?"

Dr. Lockhart nodded. "Good. I wasn't sure if there was anyone I could call for her." He said. Anticipating her question, he gave her a comforting smile. "I'm confident she'll make a full recovery eventually, but it will be a long road."

"What happened?" Thea asked. "I mean, I know you're not supposed to tell me anything, but she's got no other family, and me and Laurel" she nodded towards her friend, "we'll be taking care of her."

Dr. Lockhart nodded. "She was brought in early this morning. Her right radius and ulna were broken, and she had multiple lacerations and contusions all over her body. Her left knee was also hyper-extended. We set the bones and put casts on, as well as bracing her knee. She also has a mild concussion, but the danger seems to have passed with that. To be honest, she's healing at a remarkable rate." He shook his head. "Never seen anything like it before."

"How about…" Thea swallowed, then started again. "Was she…"

"Thankfully, there was no sign of sexual assault." Dr. Lockhart said gently. Thea let out a shaky breath. "She's going to have a long road ahead of her, Miss Queen. But as I said she will make a full recovery. Sins' been my patient before; she's a tough one."

Thea smiled. "Thank you, Doctor. If you don't mind, I'm going to see about having her transferred to Starling General so she can be looked after by my family physician. Not to say you've done a bad job!" she added quickly.

Lockhart chuckled. "As long as she gets the care she needs; I have no problem with it. I'm just happy she has someone looking after her."

Meanwhile, Laurel had moved down the hall towards the nurses' station, having spotted a SCPD Detective standing there flirting with the day nurse, who looked less than interested.

"Excuse me, Officer?" Laurel said, trying to get the cop's attention. "I was wondering what exactly happened to Cindy Burke?"

"Who?" the cop said in annoyance, finally glancing back at Laurel.

"The girl in room 407." Laurel ground out, annoyed.

"Oh." He shrugged. "Just some street rat that got roughed up in the Glades. Nothing for you to worry about sweetheart."

Before Laurel could reply indignantly, Thea moved past her and sidled up to the cop. "Hey handsome, what's your name?" she asked flirtatiously.

"Rob Burgen. Detective Rob Burgen." He replied. Laurel and the nurse both rolled their eyes.

Thea's smile turned into a smirk. "Oh, good. I was wondering because my mother is having Commissioner Nudocerdo over for dinner tomorrow night, and I wanted to know the name of the detective who obviously doesn't care about solving a vicious assault of a girl in the Glades."

Burgen looked indignant. "Who the hell do you think—"

"My name is Thea Queen. And that 'street rat' in there is a friend of mine." She shot back with venom in her voice. "And if you don't seem to give a damn about her, then I'll have my mother tell the Commissioner, and he'll put someone who does care on the case." Finished with him, she turned to the nurse. "Now, can I use your phone? I need to see about having Sin transferred to Starling General so my family doctor can take over."

"Of Course, Miss Queen." The nurse said with a smile.

* * *

The first thing Sin thought when she woke up was, absurdly enough, how damn comfortable the bed was. The second thought was that it almost made up for the fact that she was about to spend all of the money she had saved up on her damn medical bills. Slowly she opened her eyes, blinking as they adjusted to the light in the room, and immediately she was confused, because this sure as hell didn't look like the room she was in the last time she was awake.

"Good, you're awake." She looked over to see a middle-aged Asian man noting something on a tablet. "I'm Doctor Lamb, and I'll be taking care of you."

"Where's Dr. Lockhart?" Sins rasped out, her throat dry.

"Miss Queen had you transferred to Starling General." Dr. Lamb explained. "You're in the Queen family private suite." Sin looked back at the doctor, gobsmacked. He handed her a glass of water, which she sipped from automatically. "Dr. Lockhart already did a good job of setting your arm and treating your knee. I'm going to keep you here for observation for the next few days to make sure there aren't any lingering internal injuries that we haven't detected yet."

Sin took a moment to digest that. Finally, she spoke. "And where is Miss Queen?"

A few minutes later, Thea made her way into the room. She closed the door quietly as she took in the stony expression on Sin's face. "So, on a scale of one to ten, about how pissed off at me are you right now?"

"Eleven." Sin replied, deadpan.

"Don't suppose you'd buy this is a part of your benefits plan?" Thea tried.

"I don't care if you're calling this friends with benefits." Sin shot back. "You know how I feel about charity!"

Thea sat down on the edge of the bed. "Look, Sin…" Thea sighed. "This is kinda hard for me to explain, so just... bear with me, okay?" Sin nodded reluctantly. "I've been going through some stuff recently. See, the past few years have been rough for me. Lost my dad, lost my brother, distant mother… and I processed that all by NOT processing it. Started hanging with the wrong crowd, started getting drunk and high. But a couple of months ago, I got a wake-up call. I started cleaning up my act. And I dumped all the so-called friends who were enabling me." Thea stared aimlessly out the window. "Look, what I'm trying to say is that I don't have a lot of friends anymore. And I'd like the ones that I do have to stick around for a while."

This time Sin let out a sigh. "Crap. I guess I can't be _too_ mad at you then." She placed her good hand on Thea's shoulder. "But it was pretty dirty using my own words against me."

"Well, if you liked that, then you'll LOVE my next idea…"

* * *

The hospital actually kept Sin for a full week. Which turned out to be a good thing, as it gave Thea time to sell Sin on her OTHER big idea.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this." Sin groused as she rode with Thea in the back of the Queen Bentley. They had just pulled through the gates of the Queen Estate and were traversing the long driveway towards the Manor. "Why the hell did I let you talk me into this?"

"Because I live in a big house with rooms that haven't been used in over twenty years." Thea replied calmly. "And it makes no damn sense for you to be cycling through shelters, especially in your condition, when I have the room to put you up." A pause. "And because Laurel didn't want you to have to suffer through hearing her and Tommy fuck." A shudder.

Sin grinned. "Didn't you tell me that you used to have a crush on Tommy?" she teased.

"Yeah, before I found out I was related to him." Thea replied. "Now that just seems wrong."

"Hey, incest! A game the whole family can play!"

"Jeeze, Sin!" Thea exclaimed with a laugh as the car pulled to a stop in front of the house. Not waiting for Diggle, she opened her door and climbed out of the car. Sin did the same, awkwardly getting out of the car with her cane. "Welcome to my house." Thea said.

Sin looked up at the house in astonishment. "What do you have in there, Dracula?" she asked sarcastically. Thea shook her head and slowly led her friend into the house as Diggle trailed behind them with Sin's bags. Sin looked around apprehensively. "I feel like if I look at something wrong, it'll break."

"Don't worry, it's all insured." Thea said off-handedly. She led her past the staircases down a short hallway, then pressed the button for the concealed elevator. "All the bedrooms are on the second floor, but we have this that you can use until your leg is healed up."

"Sweet." Sin said, stepping into the elevator. Less than a minute later they were on the second floor.

Thea led her down the hallway. "My room is right next door." She said, opening another door. "This one is yours."

Sin looked in with wide eyes. "Christ, this is bigger than my friend Max's apartment!" She looked plaintively at Thea. "I can't-"

"Sin." Thea said simply, shutting up her friend. "Dinner's at six. I'll come and get you so you don't get lost."

"That happen often?" Sin joked weakly.

"Well, I had a boy over a few months ago. We still haven't found him." Sin just shot her an annoyed look.

* * *

True to her word, Thea came and got Sin at six and led her down to the dining room. "Welcome to our home, Cindy." Moira Queen said with a smile. "I'm Moira, and this is Walter."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Walter said.

"Thanks for letting me crash here." Sin said automatically, then winced.

Moira chuckled. "Despite how we may look, we don't stand on ceremony here." She said. "Please, take a seat." The four took their places around the table, with Sin choosing to sit next to Thea. In a moment, Raisa came out and started placing plates of food around the table.

Sin took a deep breath. "Look, I don't want to sound ungrateful, because I'm not." She began. "But like I told Thea, I'm not really big on charity. So before we dig in to…. whatever," she said, glancing down at her plate. Thea tried her best to hide her smile. "I just want to work out what I owe you."

"Owe?" Moira asked, feigning confusion.

"Rent." Sin clarified. "Food. Stuff like that. If I'm going to stay here, I want to pay my fair share."

"I can appreciate that." Moira said. She considered the question for a few moments, then nodded thoughtfully. "How about I make you a proposal."

Sin looked at her warily. "Okay…."

"Thea has told me that you are looking to get your GED, and possibly go on to college after that. So how about this- I will allow you to stay here, rent free, while you study for your GED. If you decide to continue with your education after that, you can continue to stay here rent free as long as you maintain a 3.0 grade point average. If it dips, or if you decide not to go onto college, we can negotiate a price for rent. How does that sound?"

Sin thought about it for a minute. ' _It makes sense'_ , she thought. _'This way I can save up my money for my own place, and try to make something of myself at the same time.'_ "Alright, I can live with that." She said finally.

"Good." Moira said with finality. "Then let's eat, shall we?" Everyone picked up their silverware and dug in.

"And anyway," Thea said, leaning towards Sin, "the paid internships at CNRI are partially paid for by Queen Consolidated. So really you'd just be giving us back our own money." she said with a smirk.

Sin glared at her friend. "I hate you so much right now." She said, then began stuffing food into her mouth as Thea laughed quietly.

* * *

By mid-August, sin had settled into a fairly regular pattern. Every morning she'd ride with Thea to CNRI for their day's work, where she spent most of the time shadowing Laurel and helping out where she was needed. She spent her lunch break studying, occasionally getting help from Thea or Laurel, and she continued to study after she got off of work. Finally, by the last week of August, she felt ready enough to take her GED test, which Laurel happily drove her to.

By the end of the test, Sin was exhausted and ready to go back home. She rode back to Queen Manor with Laurel.

"So, how do you think you did?" Laurel asked the pensive teen.

"Fine, I guess." Sin replied. "I hope. I think I did pretty good. " she shrugged. "I should find out in a week or two."

"Well, you've been studying your ass off, so I think you did pretty good." Laurel opined. "Have you thought about what you'll do next?"

"If I do good?" Sin asked. "Never thought I'd say this, but I'm really considering trying to go back to school." She looked over at Laurel. "Do you think, maybe... I'd make it in law school?"

Laurel smiled back at the girl. "I most certainly do." She replied. "If you'd like, I can help you look for scholarships or grants that could help you out with the costs."

Sin smiled in return. "I'd appreciate that."

A few minutes later the two pulled up to Queen manor, and after saying goodnight to her friend, Sin got out and headed into the house. "Hey, Rob." Sin called out in greeting to Thea's bodyguard, Rob Scott. "Thea's home?"

"Just got home a few minutes ago. I think she went up to grab a shower."

"Cool." A pause. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"When you were a cop, did you have to go to law school?" she asked.

Rob shook his head. "No. I went into S.W.A.T.; you need a law degree to make detective, though." Rob looked at her. "You thinking about becoming a cop?" he asked.

"Lawyer, actually." Sin admitted. "But since I know that cops don't make a lot, I figured a cop would know where to apply if I don't want to lose all of the money I've saved. I mean, Laurel said she'd help me out, but I want to do my own research, too."

"No problem with that." Rob agreed. "Tell you what. I'll reach out to a few buddies that are still on the Force in Monument Point. But if you want my advice, if you're looking for something local, talk to Laurel's father. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders."

Sin smiled. "I will. Thanks, Rob."

"No problem." He replied.

Sin headed up to her room, saying hello to Raisa as she passed her in the hallway. She paused outside of Thea's room to see if she was done; hearing the water still running, she started to move along-

But then, she heard a terrific crash.

Sin spun back around and ran back to Thea's door. She pressed her ear against the door, and whole she still heard water running, she also heard moans of pain. Sin reached for the knob, but growled in frustration when she found that it was locked. She banged on the door. "Thea!" she shouted. "Thea, answer me!"

"Miss Cindy! What's wrong!" Raisa exclaimed as she ran back down the hall.

"Something's wrong with Thea." Sin explained. "Do you have a key to this door?"

"The keys are in the security room in the cottage…"

"Right. We do this the hard way." Sin stepped back and kicked at the door hard. "Hang on Queen, I'm coming in." Another kick. "You better be hurt." She mumbled to herself. Another kick. "I'm so getting kicked out for this." A third kick finally busted the door open, and Thea's moans of pain became more pronounced. Sin and Raisa ran into the room and stopped dead at the door to the bathroom, which was opened to a horrifying sight.

The shower was still running, spraying water onto the bathroom floor. The glass shower door was gone; shattered into thousands of small, dangerous shards that littered the floor. And in the center of the bathroom Thea was laying on the ground, writhing in pain from dozens of cuts caused by the glass. There were even glass shards still embedded into her skin. As sin watched in horror, Thea grasped on shard, high up on her inner left thigh, and ripped it loose. A large spurt of blood followed it.

"No!" Sin shouted. She ran into the bathroom, but immediately slipped on the glass and fell to the floor. She gasped as a large shard embedded itself in her arm, but paid it no mind as she scrambled over to Thea and clamped her hands over the leg wound. "Raisa, call 911." Sin ordered. "And get Rob up here!" she let go of Thea's leg, watching the blood spurt out as she fumbled for her belt. After a moment she was able to rip it off, and she quickly wrapped it around Thea's leg above the large cut and hurriedly tightened it. Thea groaned in pain. "I know, I know." Sin said through gritted teeth. "But if I don't do this, you'll bleed out." She winced in pain herself at the cut in her arm. "You know; this is not how I imagined I would see you naked for the first time. Got to say the glass and blood is a big turn off."

"Miss Queen! Miss Burke!" Rob shouted running into the room. "What- "

"There's been an accident. Thea needs an ambulance!" Sin replied hurriedly.

Rob took in the sight, and made a decision. "Ambulance would take too long." He ripped the blanked off of Thea's bed and moved towards his principal. "Keep up the pressure." He ordered, gently lifting Thea and wrapping her in the blanket while Sin kept a hold of the belt. He looked back at Raisa, who was on the phone with 911. "Tell them I'm taking her to Starling General. Have them prepare the OR for surgery on a patient with multiple lacerations and heavy bleeding. Sin, walk fast!" he told the other girl as he carried Thea out of the room.

* * *

Less than an hour later Sin was being stitched up by a nurse and in more pain than when the glass was IN her arm. "I thought you gave me a shot to numb the pain." She complained through gritted teeth. "What, does it just put me in so much pain that I can't feel the needle?"

"Rather insidious, isn't it?" the nurse said dryly. "There, all done. We'll have your blood work back in a few minutes."

"Thanks." Sin said as the nurse left the room. The door opened a moment later and Sin sat up straighter as Moira, Walter, and Malcolm Merlyn stepped into the room. "Hey, Mrs. Queen. Mr. Steele. Mr… whoever." Sin said, at a loss. "How's Thea?"

"Still in surgery," Moira said. "Now what happened?"

"I don't really know." Sin said. "I was walking past her room, I heard a crash, I heard her moan in pain, so I busted down the door and found her all cut up." She winced. "I think she fell through the shower door."

Moira turned to the third man. "Malcolm? Have you noticed anything wrong with Thea recently?"

"I noticed she looked more tired than usual." Malcolm replied. "I cut our training session short tonight because of it. Told her to go home and get some more sleep."

"Well, whatever happened, she was bleeding pretty bad. If Rob hadn't got us here so fast…"

"Well, he told us you had something to do with helping her, too." Walter pointed out.

"All I did was bust down her door." She winced. "Sorry about that, by the way. I'll pay to have it fixed."

Moira shook her head. "Don't worry about the door. And thank you for helping Thea. According to the doctors, she nicked her femoral artery. Dr. Lee said that if you hadn't improvised a tourniquet, Thea may have bled out. You saved her life." Moira moved in and enveloped the surprised girl in a hug. "Thank you." She whispered again.

After a moment, Sin returned the hug. "You're welcome."

Moira pulled away and wiped her eyes. "And you never have to worry about looking for a place to live, Cindy. You'll always have a home with us." This time Sin wiped her eyes.

They spent a few more minutes talking, with Moira making sure her arm was okay, before heading back to the waiting room. As the three adults left, Malcolm paused, allowing Moira and Walter to exit the room before closing the door. He turned back to the girl, who was eying him warily.

"Do you know who I am, Miss Burke?" he asked.

Sin shrugged. "Family friend?"

"My name is Malcolm Merlyn." He said.

"You're Tommy's dad!" Sin suddenly exclaimed. "I thought you looked familiar! Tommy has a picture of him, you and his mom at Laurel's apartment." Sin frowned. "You're also the guy kicking the crap out of Thea." She scowled.

Malcolm smiled sadly. He knew the picture she was talking about- he had a similar one in his hidden room at Merlyn Global. "What I'm about to tell you, very few people actually know. Over 17 years ago I had a very brief affair with Moira, and Thea was the result. I am her biological father." He stated. "And yes, I suppose you could say that I 'kick the crap' out of her on a regular basis. She approached me about me teaching her self-defense, and so I'm training her in the only way I know how. But she assured me that if I didn't teach her, then she would seek out others. And I couldn't guarantee her safety if she did that." He scoffed to himself. "Apparently, I couldn't guarantee her safety regardless." He looked seriously at her. "There are people that would pay a lot of money to learn that Robert Queen WASN'T Thea's father." He said pointedly.

Sin stiffened in indignation. "First- she already told me. And second-I don't rat out my friends for nothing."

Malcolm smiled slightly. "I'm honestly not surprised that she did. And no, I don't think you would." He admitted. "You know; I've spent the past twenty years hating everything about The Glades. And I've spent the past twenty years feeling that every person from The Glades was worthless and would never amount to anything." He shook his head. "I've never been happier to be proven wrong." He held out his hand. "Thank you, for saving my daughter."

Sin stared at him for a moment, then took his hand and shook it. "I've already told her once- I don't have a lot of friends, so I like to keep the ones I do have around for a long time." Malcolm smiled and released her hand. He turned to leave the room, but then Sin spoke once more. "You know; Tommy was right about you." He looked back at Sin curiously. "You really are an asshole."

Malcolm snorted in laughter. "When you're finished in here, come out to the waiting room and join the family. It's quite obvious you're a part of it, now."

* * *

Time marched on.

After a week in recovery, Thea came home. Though for the first week she couldn't look at Sin without blushing. Thea herself was ordered to take it easy, and when she wasn't working on meditative exercises with Malcolm, she engaged in light workouts in the gym Moira had built in the east wing of the Manor. Sin soon joined her, and Thea began to pass on what Malcolm was teaching her to Sin (albeit in a less violent Manor). One day Sin observed Thea working out with the escrima sticks, and asked to start working with those as well. After showing her the basics, and promising to start off slow, Thea and Sin began circling one another.

"Are you ready?" Thea asked, sizing up her opponent.

"Bring it, Princess. Lets' see what you got." Sin taunted with a smirk.

"With pleasure." Thea replied, then lunged forward.

 **To Be Continued in 'A Future Imperfect'**

 **A/N:** Well, I got good news… and I got bad news.

The good news is that you got this story!

The bad news is that the wait will be longer for A Future Imperfect. Between all of the hours I've been putting in at work and preparing to go to Heroes and Villains Chicago, I have not had any time to write. I've got the outline mostly done, and I have the Prologue written, but that's it. And I won't start posting until I have it mostly written.

A/N: Fun fact- Kopi Luwak IS the most expensive coffee in the world, coming in at a whopping $600 a pound. Apparently a creature native to Indonesia called a luwak eats the raw red beans, digests the soft outer cover and excretes the inner beans. Locals then pick up the beans and sell them.


End file.
